Tag: oscars

Fall Film Preview: Our Boys & Joy

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imgresBurnt
“Maybe I just wanted it really badly, that when I got it, I didn’t know how to hold on to it…” –Adam Jones

Bradley Cooper returns to the kitchen in his latest film, Burnt, about the redemption of talented Chef Adam Jones.  A man once on top of his game, loses everything due to his drug addiction, now he fights for both redemption and that elusive third Michelin star. This film reunites Cooper with his American Sniper co-star Sienna Miller, who plays Helene, his sous chef in the movie. Both Cooper and Miller have to share their screen time with all of the food porn shots, that the trailer promises will be included in the film.

imagesCooper has been nominated for an Academy Award for the past three years and in 2015 he may receive his fourth nomination. If not, for Burnt, then maybe for his performance alongside Jennifer Lawrence in David O. Russell’s latest film titled Joy. The film chronicles Joy’s (Lawrence) rise to become the founder and matriarch of a business dynasty. Cooper plays an executive at the home shopping network who helps Joy sell her products.  At least, this year, Cooper has doubled his chances to receive his fourth consecutive nomination. Burnt will hit theaters on October 23rd, 2015, while Joy is set to be released on December 25th, 2015.

To watch the Burnt trailer click here
To watch the Joy trailer click here

Legend
“Me and my brother, we’re going to rule London.” –Ronnie Krayimgres-1

Director Brian Helegland depicts the glamorous, but at times ultra violent London underground scene in the 1960s. Tom Hardy stars as two of the most notorious criminals in British history, identical twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray.   Yes, we get twice the Tom Hardy for the price of one admission ticket. Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) co-stars as Reggie Kray’s wife, Frances “Frankie” Shea, and narrates the entire film.   The love affair between Frankie and Reggie is used as a device to contrast the twins from one another. Audience members should sympathize with Reggie as he deals with his brother’s insanity, even though by doing so the film treads more towards fiction than fact.

imgres-2Based on the trailer, the movie seems to reference American gangster films such as Goodfellas and Mean Streets, under the guise of a cockney accent. In addition the film possesses a quirky, offbeat, dark comedy tonal feel as seen in the cult-classic Snatch. Now the real question is if Tom Hardy will receive critical acclaim and recognition for both roles come award season. We have seen him as the charming, gentleman, con-artist Eames in Inception; and recently as the psychotic, offbeat, Jewish gangster, Alfie Solomons, on Netflix’s Peaky Blinders season two. Now we are able to see him play both character types simultaneously, with the cockney accents, this could be legendary.

In limited release on November 20th, 2015
To watch the trailer click here

The Revenant
“I aign’t afraid to die anymore…I done it already.” –Hugh Glassimages-2

Revenant refers to someone who has returned from the dead. Hugh Glass (Leonardo Dicaprio) is a 19th century frontiersman; left for dead, by fellow hunters and fur trappers, after a brutal bear attack. Just, when we thought we had seen Leonardo Dicaprio play everything, he brings us his portrayal as Hugh Glass; a fighter, survivor, but most importantly a quieter man in comparison to Dicaprio’s previous roles. The film follows Glass’ three hundred mile trek for vengeance across Perkins County (now South Dakota). Throughout his journey Glass deals with the grief of being betrayed by his best friend, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Glass’ thirst for revenge fuels his will to survive against all odds.

The is Academy Award winning director Alejandro G. Inarritu’s follow up to last images-1year’s best picture winner, Birdman. Inarritu’s determination to truly capture the harsh reality of Glass’ survival story, lead his cast and crew to some of the most remote places to shoot in the Canadian interior. In the trailer we begin to understand Inarritu’s vision to tell an epic adventure story through the perspective of one man’s isolation. There is a magnetic mixture between quiet tension and abrupt action in the trailer. I don’t want to jinx it, but I really hope that all Leo needed to do was return from the dead, to finally receive an oscar.

In theaters on December 25th, 2015
To watch the trailer click here

By Sarah Belmont
Featured Writer
@sjbelmont

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Fall Film Preview: One Border & Four Walls

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imgresSicario
“Everyday across that border people are killed with his blessing…to find him would be like discovering a vaccine.” –Alejandro

 In Mexico “Sicario” means hitman. In America, during awards season, Sicario could mean awards for Denis Villenueve (director), Emily Blunt, and Bencio Del Toro. Kate Macer (Blunt) is a naïve FBI agent assigned to a government task force to aid in America’s war on drugs across the Mexican border. She finds herself to be a pawn in game being played between her fellow agent Alejandro (Del Toro) and Matt (Josh Brolin), her superior officer. The longer Kate Macer stays across the boarder fighting against the Mexican cartels, the more her idealism fades into a distant mirage of her homeland.

Denis Villenueve is a director on the rise. In 2013 both his film Prisoners andimages-10 Enemy were released. Both are very different films and meant to be seen by very different audiences. Sicario could be the perfect mix between Villenueve’s dark accessibility illustrated in Prisoners, and his ability to retain tension in every scene as shown in Enemy.   According to early reviews from critics such as The ConCourse’s Tom Ley, “Honestly, the film might be a horror movie.” Sicario may just be the first horror film masked as a sprawling crime drama that any of us has ever seen.

In theaters on October 2nd, 2016
To Watch the trailer click here

Room

“Do you remember how Alice wasn’t always in wonderland? Well,  I imgres-1wasn’t always in room.” –Ma

Meet Ma (Brie Larson), a young woman kidnaped and then impregnated by her captor. Meet Jack (Jacob Tremblay), Ma’s son, he knows nothing of the world beyond four walls. Ma desperately wants to escape the room that she and Jack have been imprisoned in for the past seven years. But, have these four walls protected Jack’s innocence from being perturbed by the outside world? “Room”, is a small film with two emotionally complex performances, by Larson and Tremblay that are preserved by the four walls of the screen.

imgres-2Two years ago, a small independent film titled Short Term 12 was released and Brie Larson suddenly appeared on film critic’s radar as an actress to watch. Larson did nab a few smaller critic awards for her performance in Short Term 12, and was even viewed as a dark horse to receive an Oscar nomination. If Larson’s performance surpasses her work in Short Term 12, then, hopefully, she will not be overlooked a second time. Based on the trailer director Lenny Abrahamson (Frank) may also receive some recognition for his work, as he uses various camera angels to allow audiences to view the room through Jack’s perspective.

In theaters on October 16th, 2015
To watch the trailer click here

By Sarah Belmont
Featured Writer
@sjbelmont

2.5 – Future Future Past Present Barry

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This week Pete and Casey are joined once again by Rose Moore of Moviepilot.com and Amy Marie of The Agent Carter Podcast while Matt is still out fighting crime. They curate the week’s top Entertainment and Comic Book Movie News in order to jump straight into TV Talk. The round table talks Gotham, Agent Carter, Arrow, and The Flash and where they think each series is heading. There is also talk of Grammy s and Oscars. All in all, things are their usual brand of hilarity and insanity make sure you catch this SUPER episode of Scene N’ Nerd!